


Lernaen Tales

by fabricdragon



Series: A Twisted Skein [8]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Background Relationships, Background Slash, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Demisexuality, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Psychologists & Psychiatrists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-03 14:57:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8718256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabricdragon/pseuds/fabricdragon
Summary: Tales of  Hydra, especially Alexander Pierce's actions, during the events  of "Someone Had to Say it" and "Will You Walk Into My Parlor"WILL contain  stories of extremely unpleasant attitudes and behaviors, but may explain some things from the other stories.Relative to my main sequence this is CANON and will be tagged to appropriate chapters in the original stories.YES chapter one is mutually canon for "Enter Sandman" (ONLY for the psych department, not for any discussion of Loki, because Loki was not on Earth in that fiction)





	1. Hydra Therapy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> takes place before the beginning of "Someone Had to Say It"

Alexander Pierce rubbed his eyes and sat back with a sigh. _Another late night because of incompetent people._ Their agents had been trying to recruit, or at least get a handle on, the super-villain Loki for weeks, and they were getting exactly nowhere.

Oh, He’d talk to them.  He’d certainly shown no hesitation in taking their various honey traps to bed, but progress? Not a bit.

After Sitwell did some analysis of the fights with the Avengers, they’d tried offering a male honey trap. He took them up on that, too. Still nothing.

He was apparently quite INTERESTED in recovering the scepter, but… not enough to commit to doing anything they wanted.

At least he kept the Avengers busy.

Stark had been out of action with a broken arm for a while. Which at least kept him at home in the labs working on things like they wanted him to, but he wasn’t working on weapons; _Oh no, of course not._   He made a rapid bone healing device.

 _God damn erratic, uncontrollable, non team playing_ … At least their agents would get some use out of a rapid healing device. He wondered how it would interact with their Asset.

 _Enough._ He was going home.  He sent a sharply worded memo to the psych team about their various failings, closed his briefcase, and left for the weekend.

 *

Fury was becoming more difficult to control. Analysis indicated they would have to remove him soon. It was too bad: he was very good at his job, and if they removed him they would have to take out the Avengers soon after.

_Not that that wasn’t on the to-do list…_

Still no progress on Loki, and he hadn’t made contact in too long.

He called a meeting with Sitwell, who was apparently the only competent man on the psych team, and went back to his regular business.

*

“So you see, Sir,  the psychiatric evaluations on the ‘scepter victims’ are all over the map.  We have some people who genuinely broke down from being under mind control, including some of ours, but we have others who seem to have come out of it fairly well.” Sitwell was going over the reports with him.

“What about Selvig? I understand he was one of the ones who broke down.  Is he still usable?”

“Actually, I know I am in the minority here, Sir, but I don’t think it was the mind control.”

“Explain.”

“I looked at some of our old reports, and close contact to the Tesseract had… peculiar effects on some people, psychologically.  While the mind control might have been a factor? I think working on the Tesseract directly had more to do with it.” He shrugged. “Many of the war-era contactees were able to continue work under supervision; some of them even made more progress.  I believe we are seeing the same thing here.

“He’ll probably make more progress right up until he loses the last shreds of his sanity, at which point  most of the prior  contactees ended up comatose.”

“So… not my problem. Good.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“What about Agent Barton? You were supposed to try to recruit him or push him out,” Pierce said thoughtfully. “But his psych reports are conflicted.”

“He’s lost a lot of his drive, Sir.  He was a very aggressive and maverick agent.  He’d been through several handlers before…” ‑Sitwell took a deep breath and continued‑ “senior Agent Coulson died.  Coulson was one of the few that successfully managed him: he was extremely willful.”

_Oh, yes, Sitwell and Coulson had been friends._

“My condolences on your loss, Agent Sitwell.”

Sitwell nodded gratefully. “Thank you, Sir. I console myself with the fact that at least I didn’t have to take him down when the time came. It would have been… difficult.”

Pierce nodded. _Sitwell was loyal, but killing a friend was hard for most people_. “Please continue,” he said softly.

“Agent Barton appears to have lost most of his willfulness.  His pranks stopped‑ he had a habit of pulling them on fellow agents regularly‑ and he didn’t even respond to the anger and hatred by his fellow agents. Just moved out of S.H.I.E.L.D. housing and moved in with Stark.  His social life has dropped to non-existent as well.”

“I thought he and Romanov…?”

“No.  I am severely disappointed in the other members of the psych team for that.  There is absolutely no evidence of romantic involvement with Natasha Romanov. I believe they are very close friends, but… nothing else.

“Personally,  I estimate a 50% likelihood that he was sleeping with Coulson.”

“Oh?”

“They were close.  It’s possible it was just friendship; it’s possible it might not have gone that far YET. I don’t know.”

“Coulson was homosexual?”

“Bisexual.” He looked thoughtful and added, “Perhaps. I believe the current term is Demisexual. Phil certainly had homosexual relationships in the past, but he also had a close relationship with several women, including a musician.  I think he was indifferent to gender.”

Pierce nodded. “But you believe Agent Barton is homosexual and using Romanov as a cover?” Pierce looked thoughtful. “It would be a good one; most men couldn’t imagine turning her down.”

“Yes, Sir. Exactly.”

He looked thoughtfully at Sitwell. “You called it on the male agents we offered to Loki.”

Sitwell nodded. “I believe, based on the reports by the agents we have had sleep with him, that he is homosexual, predominantly, and probably had an extremely homophobic upbringing.”

“Do you think he slept with Agent Barton then?” Pierce looked down at his notes. “A few of the other psychologists thought rape might explain his behavior changes.”

“From the explosive reaction they got when he brought it up? I have my own theory, Sir.”

“Yes?”

“I think he is deeply interested in Loki‑ there is a sexual attraction there‑ but I do not believe it was acted on. More importantly, however is that Agent Barton has an abiding desire to have structure and order.  I believe a great deal of the issue is that Phil provided a structure and anchor. Order, Sir. He also had structure and order with Loki.

“My estimation is that THAT is the cause of half of the breakdowns in the controlees: an internal conflict between a longing for order and structure, and a fear of mind control.

“In other words, I think Agent Barton was always a potential asset, if not recruit to Hydra, if he’d had the right handler.  Losing the structure of the scepter, and not having Phil there to pick him back up? He is directionless:  loss of drive; depression‑ he is not performing at anywhere near peak efficiency.  He also hasn’t been very effective against Loki.”

Pierce looked impressed at Sitwell. _The man needed a promotion_. “Do you think he’s a potential recruit now?”

“It would be difficult.  His trust levels have always been low, Sir.  IF you could get a strong, commanding presence… possibly with added sex, but at least with sexual tension, it might be possible.  However, I do not know how you would get him to open up to them.”

“Sitwell, I have to commend you.”

“Sir?” he smiled faintly. “Compliance will be rewarded.”

“Always,” Pierce nodded. “But exceptional work requires exceptional rewards. Do you think Barton would be a good candidate for conditioning? Extraordinary conditioning?”

“I believe he would be ideal, Sir.  If his loyalty can be redirected, while he will never be a ‘by the book’ agent, he could be a HIGHLY useful asset.”

Pierce nodded. “I will so order it. If nothing else, we can pick him up when Project Insight goes online.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Now, how many of these others do you think we can recruit?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jasper Sitwell was a friend of Phil Coulson in Canon (he and Phil plotted to send Tony to talk to General Ross in order to NOT get the Abomination released to the Avengers in the short "The Consultant".  
> He was revealed to be a Hydra operative of high rank in "The Winter Soldier".
> 
> NOTE:  
> In BOTH the "A Tangled Skein" and "Enter Sandman" universes Clint Barton had issues with SHIELD psych departments. I assume this would be the same background *for the psych department* in both. However Loki was not on earth to be attempted to be recruited in Enter Sandman, and the interaction between Loki and Clint Barton, and Clint Barton's background, are different in each universe.  
> The Clint Barton of Enter Sandman is not particularly experienced in the BDSM scene, as an example


	2. Cut Off One Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conversation with Doctor Whitehall is the day of the fight in the park Chapter one of "Someone had to say it  
> The conversation with Director Fury is approximately between Chapter 44 and 45 of "Someone had to Say it"

The envelope that arrived at Alexander Pierce’s mailbox was a heavy rich cream, and inside it was the invitation he’d been angling for, for months. The Hellfire Club masked gala was more than a party; it was his opportunity to join the club.

He’d been making friends with everyone he knew was a member, and a few people their information suspected of being, but it had been a slow, slow crawl.  He couldn’t blame them: everyone‑ including S.H.I.E.L.D., including Hydra‑ wanted to get in, mostly because they kept spies OUT so very efficiently.

Of course, most of the time there wasn’t anything worth  knowing about except for who was  having sex with whom‑ not that this wasn’t useful‑ but the sheer fact that all those powerful people were there, and no one had gotten  reports out? Priceless. Even Tony Stark kept his mouth firmly shut about it, and Stark couldn’t keep his mouth shut about anything.

  *

The meeting with Daniel Whitehall required very careful management, but eventually he arrived at the Hydra base. 

Whitehall had a new assistant, Sunil Bakshi, who very politely took care of him while he waited for the Doctor to finish up with some things.  After a moment, he touched his earpiece, said, “Mr. Pierce… Doctor Whitehall will see you now,” and showed him in, polite and deadly.

Pierce glanced thoughtfully back at the door. “What happened to your last assistant?” Pierce asked him. “I thought he had worked out well.”

“He did.  I reassigned him to other duties. Mr. Bakshi is coming along nicely.”

“Good, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Obviously, Director Pierce.  What did you have in mind?”

“Agent Stilwell has been doing extraordinary work, and brought some information about some of our more problematic opponents to me. I want your opinion.”

Doctor Whitehall looked over the files carefully.  It took a very long time.

“Agreed, the analysis on Clint Barton is sketchy, but looks extremely promising.  We can work with unwilling targets, but a target that already has many of the qualities we look for in a recruit is easier.  As to Natasha Romanov, I disagree.”

“Oh? His analysis seemed sound.”

“It is sound; he is simply less familiar with the process that created her than I am.  I met some of the original graduates: they tend to shatter when reprogrammed.” Whitehall looked thoughtful. “Still, she is an unusual case; they don’t often escape their handling.  I would be willing to attempt it, but don’t take any chances bringing her down.

“As to the rest of them… Obviously, Dr. Banner is long overdue for study‑“

“Agreed.”

“Rogers could be subjected to the same conditioning as our Asset, you know. I have advanced it significantly.  The standard Faustus method is unlikely to work.”

“If you think so. I’ll try to bring him in alive, then.”

“As to Mr. Stark… you have a problem.”

“He is a problem,” snorted Pierce.

“I meant that his internal power source makes most forms of extraordinary treatment highly risky.  He’s very likely to die. I will attempt it, of course, but it might not be possible.” He shrugged expressively. “Still, sometimes the most intelligent people are the easiest to manipulate. The Faustus method might work.”

“The consensus keeps going back and forth between killing the man or trying to make use of him, depending on how recently they’ve had to deal with him.”

“If his drinking and public battles keep up at the rate I’ve been hearing, you won’t need to make a decision; He’ll be dead.”

“He invented a bone mending device; hopefully, he learns some caution…”

“Oh, you haven’t seen today’s paper? He hasn’t.”  Whitehall went over to a table and came back with a newspaper. 

The headlines read: ‘Battle in Park‑Again.’

Pierce  went back home after a bit more discussion, rather annoyed at  both Tony Stark for being that much of an idiot, and Loki for not killing him, again.  He had to admit, some of the headlines were clever; he liked ‘Battle of the Park 2-Electric Boogaloo’ the best.

  *

_Apparently Stark was on the wagon.  Will miracles never cease?_

Loki made contact with one of the agents again, but other than apparently charming them out of more money, nothing came of it. He read the report by the agent again. _Hmm, might be compromised a bit, probably best to have one of the psychology people interview her._   He made a note to Agent Sitwell directly.

He stopped by to meet with Director Fury and found him standing looking out the window‑in his usual fashion.  Today, however, he looked troubled.

“Nick? Something’s bothering you.”

“Yes. It’s Stark.  He collapsed.”

“What do you mean, he collapsed?” Pierce didn’t have to feign the confusion.

Fury walked over to his desk and sat down.  He looked older, and tired. “He apparently had had a bad blackout episode, drinking and pain pills, after the last fight.  He apparently decided to quit.”

“I… had heard that. That’s a good thing.”  Pierce was sincerely confused.

“No, it is not,” Fury said tiredly. “Apparently everyone on the team thought it was a good thing, and they were ‘helping’.  But none of them has a clue about alcohol dependency.”

“Can you explain it to me, Nick? Because I’m a bit lost.”

“Any drug withdrawal is potentially risky. Alcohol may be LESS risky, but… he collapsed.  He’s in the Avenger’s Med Bay.”  Fury swallowed hard. “He’s not expected to live.”

Pierce swore, and then pulled himself together. “I’m sorry, Nick. What can I do?”

“Nothing. At this point, it’s up to God, and doctors.”

He seemed to be taking this hard. “Were… I hadn’t had the impression you were close, Nick, but you seem pretty broken up‑for you.”

“We weren’t close, but I felt responsible for him a bit.  He was always an ass, but… not all of that was his fault.” He looked down at his hands. “I just feel like I failed him.”

Pierce walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. “Seriously, let me know if I can help.”

“Thank you.  I need to start making arrangements. War Machine is on a training run halfway around the world, I want him closer to home… and we have to brace for the inevitable when he dies.”

“Such as?”

“In addition to Stark Industries stock falling, and the disruption of technology development, I expect the Avengers to fairly well implode.”

“I’d… thought he wasn’t that much of a team player?”

“He isn’t.  It’s just that somehow he’s the center of the team; you’d think that would be Rogers, but it isn’t. I’ll probably have to put Agent Barton on medical leave.  Stark’s been half of what’s been holding him together after Coulson died.”

“I wasn’t aware of that.” _Until recently anyway, certainly not of STARK’s part in it. I wonder if they’re sleeping together?_

“I’ll have to activate some of the backups for Dr. Banner as well. He’ll bolt.”

“He’s staying because of him?”

“Yes.  If Tony Stark dies, we lose our leash on the Hulk.”

“Nick, I understand that you’re hurting, but I think I should have known some of this beforehand _.” I should shoot you where you sit._

“As much of a help as you’ve been, you don’t run the team, and you aren’t involved in it.” Fury pulled himself back together. “I’m sorry for throwing this at you: that used to be Coulson’s job: listening to me bitch.”

Pierce looked at him with concerned eyes, which faded to annoyance after he turned to leave.

_Might have to step up the timetable on the Avengers, then._

He called Doctor Whitehall to get things ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sunil Bakshi, Doctor Whitehall, and the Faustus method are all from "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."  
> The Faustus method is the brainwashing method used to turn people into Hydra agents. it is implied that Sunil Bakshi may have been a victim of this, in addition to being the Doctor's right hand man, in an episode of that show.
> 
> The Asset, of course, is the Winter Soldier.


	3. And Two More Will Take Its Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There had been five aberrations in recent memory: Thor’s arrival and his hammer were one incident; Loki’s arrival was another. The other three were much smaller incidents, but no less problematic. Most reported aberrations were reclassified into lesser status problems; Pierce prayed this was one of them."
> 
> Some things simply cannot be predicted

Pierce got a priority text at some ungodly hour.  He didn’t even look at the clock, just staggered to his home office and texted back, “This better be good”, along with a secure phone number.

“Sir, we have an aberration,” said the voice on the line, using one of the worst codes for a Hydra report. It meant something was happening that the local commander or expert could not explain, and was endangering the plan.

There had been five aberrations in recent memory:  Thor’s arrival and his hammer were one incident; Loki’s arrival was another. The other three were much smaller incidents, but no less problematic. Most reported aberrations were reclassified into lesser status problems; Pierce prayed this was one of them.

“Report.”

“As reported, Tony Stark was within an hour of dying, according to every known medical resource we have.  There was a staged incident to pull everyone of ours away from the patient, cameras were nonfunctional‑“

“Cameras are controlled by Stark in his building, I told you to move him.”

“We tried: it was blocked, emphatically.  In any event, Sir, the patient is now alive, well, refusing medical analysis except from Dr. Banner, and has retreated to his private levels with the Avengers and Ms. Potts.”

“That’s not an aberration,” Pierce snorted. “That’s replacing him.  It’s a Life Model Decoy, or an actor.”

“Negative, Sir. Our doctor on site had an energy scanner, our own issue, and confirmed that it was the SAME functioning reactor. Identical energy signature.  Not a duplicate, unless they managed to do several hours’ worth of surgery‑without killing the replacement‑ in under 20 minutes, or had a  duplicate  waiting for a rapid transfer of the  ARC reactor.  Do you believe that’s possible?”

Pierce stared down at the desk blankly. “No.”

“Then we have an aberration, Sir.”

“It… may be. Thank you. I will deal with it.”

 *

Nick Fury had apparently also been called‑ no surprise‑ and flew directly to Stark Tower.  Annoyingly, they let HIM in.

And no information came out.

Dr. Banner was seen walking back to the tower‑ none of the Hydra personnel even knew he’d left. _Incompetents, the lot of them._

TONY STARK was seen walking back to the tower, looking as though he was staggering in from a drunken party. He went up his personally secured elevator.

Pierce simply couldn’t believe it. He called a report in from the on-site observer‑ all the man was told was it was a Hydra superior, of course.

“Yes, Sir. At first glance he looked like a drunken bum, rumpled, smelled like booze; I didn’t realize what it meant when the secure door opened for him. I… I didn’t recognize him.  He told me to call my supervisor when I stopped him. Identified her by name, talked to her on the comm link. By that point I had gotten a good look at him, and it was him.  Impersonators  don’t… they don’t let themselves BE unrecognizable, sir.  Then he used the private elevator to go up.”

“Time?”

The fellow told him, exactly, and uploaded a photo of the man as he’d come in. _FINALLY a competent person; he’ll need a promotion._

That was indeed a very rumpled and disheveled Tony Stark.  Healthy, and… he looked unusually relaxed and pleased.  It was a good picture‑ and no, not how an imposter would present himself.

“Thank you. You will be rewarded.”

*

Not one blasted bit of this made sense.

Fury is buzzing around like a damned hornet, and the Avengers have closed ranks and are bottled up in Stark Tower.  Something is very, very wrong, because Steve Rogers was seen PUNCHING the building.

He made the hard call.

“I need the Asset. It’s time to take preemptive measures.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place after chapter 70 of "Someone had to Say It" http://archiveofourown.org/works/4813913/chapters/12005273
> 
> YES, the hydra agent is the guard in chapter 70. Loki didn't like him, remember? (innocent whistling)
> 
> the Asset is, of course, The Winter Soldier, aka Bucky Barnes


	4. Voices Carry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> part 1 of this chapter references chapter 88 of "Someone had to say it"  
> the second part is the same events as chapter 6 of "will you walk into my parlor"
> 
> This story arc concludes here, picking up in "Asset Management"

Pierce was getting things in order‑ he was taking  part of Thursday and all of Friday off to go up to New York for the Hellfire Club  party‑ when yet another  emergency notice crossed his  desk.  _Can’t these idiots handle anything‑_

He sat down and stared.  _Not possible._

The brainwashing and reprogramming facility that he had been in‑ DANIEL WHITEHALL’s facility‑ had been destroyed.

Utterly and completely destroyed. 

Evidence pointed to the guards putting up an aggressive defense, but when all was said and done the facility was a complete loss.  Thankfully Doctor Whitehall and his new assistant had been at a different facility assisting with a different problem, but the main equipment was gone.

Pierce started the follow up and containment on auto pilot.

*

He hadn’t been able to take Thursday off, dealing with the aftermath of the attack, and he didn’t get to take as much time off on Friday as he had hoped.  He arrived in  New York very late Friday night, and collapsed at the hotel.  He spent Saturday finding an appropriate mask for the  “masquerade ball” and was exceedingly annoyed to find that all  of the  good suppliers were sold out.

He arrived at  the Hellfire Club feeling short tempered and  irritable, and spent the most agonizing  hour of his life trying to be politic and  pleasant instead of setting fire to something.  Many of these people were not even full members, of course, but probationary or prospective, like him… and then there were the guests‑ mostly expensive escorts, of course. There was a truly attractive woman being passed around by three club members at one table, several lovely bits of arm candy, at least one good looking young man who was being led around on a leash, and then  there was  some  young woman in a cat costume; she was attractive enough, but obviously on drugs.

Everything was going smoothly and then the universe threw a bucket of shit at him.

Tony Stark.  The “supposed to be dead” Tony Stark‑  the annoying, irritable, impossible to control asshole who wasn’t making weapons or working on useful-to-Hydra projects anymore Tony Stark‑ was at the party.  Of course he was, he was a known member‑ just because HE SHOULD BE DEAD was no reason that he couldn’t show up with some ridiculously gothic looking model…

_Wait._

The ridiculously gothic model/rocker… was very, very tall… jet black hair, pale, wearing an emerald green accented mask… _No, it couldn’t possibly_ …

Pierce went over the reports in his head.  Loki was not unwilling to take their male agents to bed.  Loki’s fights with the Avengers had been noticed to focus on Stark, in a potentially less than lethal…

He looked at Tony Stark, the uncontrollable, being steered around the room by his owner‑because it was very clear that he was.  Stark was wearing a collar… a gold and green collar. Pierce had a momentary wicked thought of Tony Stark being forced to obey someone and shut up.

That… could explain his suddenly “almost dying”, if Loki had gotten to him.  He wasn’t really almost dying; the monitors just had no idea what they were looking at… He turned away and went back to talking to politicians. Loki caught his eye; he nodded.

Slowly, without being obvious, he made his way over to the corner where Loki, by whatever name, was waiting.

 “I wasn’t expecting to run into you here, Mr. Pierce.”  He’d heard enough of his voice on the recordings: that was Loki, no question.

“A pleasure, Mr…” he politely waited for Loki to give him his use name.

“Stark’s guest.  You can call me Mr. Jotuun, if you like, although you know my other name.”

“I don’t know what you mean. We’ve never met.” _Was he insane?_

“You’re former Secretary of Defense, and currently one of the powers that be in charge of SHIELD, Mr. Pierce.”

_He’s insane, this place must be bugged._ “Oh? Did Mr. Stark tell you who I was?”

“Mr. Stark,” Loki smirked, “isn’t thinking very clearly, but will tell me anything I want.  There’s still no point in pretending you don’t know who I am.”

“We’ve never met.”  _He had no clue about covert security, did he_?

 “No, we haven’t; I simply assumed a man of your authority would know the arrangements being proposed by his subordinates.  Especially since they are dangling such a rich prize in exchange. Shall we stop dancing, Secretary Pierce?  Any organization has many heads…” 

Pierce valiantly refrained from pulling a gun and shooting the idiot alien thing right here.

 “… but the people at the very top do need to keep an eye on the other ones, lest they be bitten off.”

Pierce gritted his teeth and asked quietly, “Is this private enough?” _Obviously NOT ,you delusional…_

“No one can overhear me unless I allow them to, Mr. Pierce.”

_What?_   Pierce rapidly thought back to the number of “equipment failures” plaguing observation of Loki, and relaxed just a touch.

He then had a short conversation during which the lunatic calmly declared TONY STARK to be easily controllable, and that he could run Stark Industries using him as a puppet.

_Having the uncontrollable and unpredictable Loki controlling the obnoxious and uncontrollable Stark wasn’t much of an improvement._

 Then the conversation turned to the club itself.

“So are you trying to find out who has kept their membership from the rest of Hydra, or gain a hidden weapon for yourself?”

“Don’t mention names.” _No security sense at all, my God._

“I told you, no one can overhear us unless I permit it.  No microphone or eavesdropping device will function, unless I allow it.” Y _es, I figured that out, thanks._

“A convenient ability,” he said calmly. _I would KILL for that ability._

“Yes, it is. So…” Loki asked, “Do you intend to make use of the power here for your own ends? Or simply remove it so others cannot have it?  I do wish to know before I make any effort to cultivate it myself.”

_Gah, he’s trying to cultivate the Hellfire Club as a… Ok, deep breath, he’s an outside resource, USE it._  “Alright,” he said, “maybe you can help.”

“For a price, perhaps.” Loki sipped his drink. “What do you want to know?”

“We need to find out what their stand on mutants is, among other things.  There are some members who are, apparently, and some members trying to legislate against them. It’s confusing.”

“What difference does it make?  I find the distinctions Midgardians make between different types of power perplexing, myself.  Does Hydra have some issue with them?”

_Oh God I have to explain this?_

He explained mutants, and individual power blocks, as best he could.  “No one can be permitted to oppose our plans: everyone will comply, or be removed.” _There, he should understand THAT._

Loki looked bored, “Or get tired of playing here and go on their way.”

“That… is also acceptable,” he nodded.  _PLEASE? Going away would be lovely._

“The scepter….”

“You’ll leave after you get it?” _Not that I want to give it to you._

“Well, I would leave when I got bored in any event, but I have no intention of leaving the scepter here.”

“You could be a good addition to our plans, seriously, especially if you can control Stark.”

“Stark trusts too easily; he lets himself be too vulnerable.” 

_Stark? TRUSTS? Too easily?! Vulnerable? Have you MET him?_  “I hadn’t thought so, and he’s usually defensive and hostile.”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Touché.”

“How would I contact you directly?” Loki asked him, as if he would let him know that.

 “You shouldn’t.  I have too many dangerous people, too close to me.  I’ll contact you through our mutual friends.”  He nodded and walked away before he shot the man.

He spent the next several hours charming several members of the membership committee, and trying not to trip over this lunatic whore in a cat suit.

He got back to his hotel and fell over.  By the time he got home he was finally over the hangover, but was coming down with a cold or something.

The only good thing to come out of this weekend so far was the news that the Asset would be here by Monday.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Indeed, the Asset, The Winter Soldier did in fact arrive Monday night.  
> so did the Hellfire Club's assassin, Fluffy (aka Sandra Morgan)
> 
> suffice it to say that a mutant who has the capability of frying two major powered mutants, while blasting part of a building to smithereens (and one of the mutants was Wolverine) is not going to have any trouble getting rid of Pierce.
> 
> this story picks up in "Asset Management"


End file.
